End of Dragons elite spec preview

[anduriell.6280]

4 minutes ago, ChronoPinoyX.7923 said:

So that means Deadeye must have been a Ranger E-Spec since they're clearly kneeling, same goes for basic Thief art looking like they're "cowering".

 

Really though, it's just a pose, it doesn't determine anything... 

nah, ranger has another color theme, it's always with the pets. Check the images below and then tell me this if this silluete gives you the same vibes.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ranger#/media/File:Ranger_04_concept_art.png

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Druid#/media/File:Spec_image_Druid.jpg

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Soulbeast#/media/File:Spec_image_Soulbeast.jpg

 

Definitely that seems to be a thief, a thief with an heavy armor set. Could be a guardian too but how the silluetes are being presented and the fact we will be shown the 3 at the same time it makes me think we are viewing a new heavy armor thief spec, with somewhat some guardian vibes.

To replace guardian in WvW and that's why the wvw armor set is used for this preview.

[ChronoPinoyX.7923]

1 minute ago, anduriell.6280 said:

nah, ranger has another color theme, it's always with the pets. Check the images below and then tell me this if this silluete gives you the same vibes.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Ranger#/media/File:Ranger_04_concept_art.png

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Druid#/media/File:Spec_image_Druid.jpg

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Soulbeast#/media/File:Spec_image_Soulbeast.jpg

 

Definitely that seems to be a thief, a thief with an heavy armor set. Could be a guardian too but how the silluetes are being presented and the fact we will be shown the 3 at the same time it makes me think we are viewing a new heavy armor thief spec, with somewhat some guardian vibes.

To replace guardian in WvW and that's why the wvw armor set is used for this preview.

I... wasn't being serious. My point was speculating too much based on a pose. Plus it's easy to tell they removed all forms of special effects around the character, they did the exact same thing on Core artwork silhouettes. Pistol Necro was obvious because they left the special effects on, this one's a bit more open to interpretation cuz they didn't leave any special effects on. 

[azarhal.3086]

53 minutes ago, anduriell.6280 said:

I think thief for this iteration may get an heavy armor set. And necro medium armor set, thus the hat and the cape\butcape

So following that logic we will get to play with one light, medium and heavy spec in the first beta and all makes sense now.

 

The pistol necro is cosplaying as a Jeoseung Saja (Korean grim reaper). He's wearing a traditional Korean gat hat and hanbok, both of which fit into light armor.

[anduriell.6280]

Just now, azarhal.3086 said:

The pistol necro is cosplaying as a Jeoseung Saja (Korean grim reaper). He's wearing a traditional Korean gat hat and hanbok, both of which fit into light armor.

you may be right, but hats have been always presented in medium tier, i don't remeber seeing any similar hat in light armor.

But its not only that, the armor looks like what an engi would wear

 

https://i.redd.it/mnh20jgm7yd71.jpg

[Diswan.8156]

I am 95% sure it's guardian, not only the heavy armor fits perfectly as they showed in other posts. 

You can see a blue outline all over the silouette, which is surely the left over from the cropping they did to the original image so they could present it like this. 

[Acyk.9671]

deleted

Edited April 3, 2022 by Acyk.9671

[anduriell.6280]

Just now, Acyk.9671 said:

because the inspiration behind the e spec wear those clothes. I think you are reaching here. we will know in two weeks for sure.

Yep either way i am sure i will be happy for new specs.

[Master Ketsu.4569]

 

[draxynnic.3719]

I really don't think there's much chance that ArenaNet is introducing elite specialisations with different armour weights than the base specialisation. That would be opening a pretty big can of worms when a minor trait that adds armour rating would do the job.

 

There are medium armours that would look heavy if viewed in silhouette. There are light armours that would look medium if viewed in silhouette. Heck, there are light armours that would look heavy if viewed in silhouette.

 

This set... is definitely reminiscent of Warlord's. Helm looks more like medium to me - while the heavy has an open version, the raised visor should still be visible, and it doesn't appear to be here. Legs look more like heavy - mostly because of the double pad around the knee region (medium only has the protection for the knee itself, not the additional plate for the lower thigh). The hanging bits from the waist definitely look more like heavy to me: I actually went looking for a means of replicating that look using medium via mixing and matching and couldn't find one.

 

It's possible that all the discrepancies from either set are simply artistic licence, however.

[Jski.6180]

We had 2 lights now we are going to a heavy (maybe mid but more likely heavy) in preview did these get drawn out of a hat for pure randomness?

[draxynnic.3719]

5 minutes ago, Jski.6180 said:

We had 2 lights now we are going to a heavy (maybe mid but more likely heavy) in preview did these get drawn out of a hat for pure randomness?

I don't think they've ever revealed in groups based on armour weight, regardless of what some people were claiming. Maybe for PoF - I don't really remember the PoF reveal order since it was pretty much all at once. The real determinant is probably "what's ready".

[Tempest.8479]

1 hour ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

I don't think they've ever revealed in groups based on armour weight, regardless of what some people were claiming. Maybe for PoF - I don't really remember the PoF reveal order since it was pretty much all at once. The real determinant is probably "what's ready".

Even from a marketing standpoint, I don't think it would've made sense to reveal the specs grouped by armor class. It removes a significant amount of the mystery of each reveal if we can always deduce it's going to be one of 3 classes in every batch. Throwing in a curveball like what looks to be a Guardian helps keep people on their toes and drives the speculation that generates the hype and interest in the reveals.

[Datarus.9871]

Thief.

[Mik.3401]

I think it is shiro-inspired , assassin/swashbuckler-like spec for thief. Note that the Swords are curved and dagger-like - obviously accommodating to the thief aesthetic. Medium/Heavy-looking armor makes perfect sense here as it is supposed to be close combat spec.

 

Guardian is a false idea imho as thief class has dark blue/black & red/purple colours around their class drawings. In the process of saturation of course it would come out as light blue. I think it is more of a wishful thinking than prediction to think it is guardian. 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Mik.3401

[Xaylin.1860]

12 hours ago, Kodama.6453 said:

My own speculation about this elite spec:

I think this one will be the thief elite spec, it will use the icon with crossed swords and the 3 initiative diamonds, offhand sword as the obvious weapons.

 

With the icon and the fact that this is the first elite spec teaser image which shows a weapon not put on the class through the elite spec (both guardian and thief can already use sword on the mainhand, soulbeast was also just pictured with the mainhand dagger and not dual wielding it), it feels for me like dual wielding is actually an important theme for this elite spec.

 

Anet is willing to think a bit more outside of the box with these elite specs. So maybe this spec is fundamentally changing how dual wielded weapons operate for this class?

Thief already had the dual attacks on skill 3, but many people disliked in the past that the mainhand weapon is still the only one used in auto attack chains, for example.

 

Maybe this thief elite spec will change the auto attack chains of thieves weapons to use both weapons. So if you are using 2 swords, then you slash the enemy with the mainhand sword, then the offhand sword and in the end cross strike them with both swords at the same time.

 

Could be an assassin elite spec and possibly using stances as their utility skill type.

I feel like you're stretching a bit... cause you need icon #8 to not be Engineer... 😅

 

• The three diamonds could represent Virtues. Easily.
• The e-spec might be about Dual Whielding, but that doesn't NOT make it Guardian.
• The pose fits Guardian just as well as it does Thief

 

Your speculation about Thief is all fair and reasonable. ANet could alter Dual skills on Thief. ANet could also change weapon skills of existing weapons when equiping the e-spec. Even though I'd say that this is less likely than just adding not yet accessible weapons. But just based on the armor - and it being human, sorry Revenants - it most likely is Guardian. If the armor is indeed heavy Warlord. If not, sure... Thief it is.

 

Talking about armor... does anyone know wether the Virtuoso chest piece is ingame? 🤔 Mayyyybe we get more than 1 armor piece this time around? Would also make sense for the (at least I assume) Necro-teaser?

[Kodama.6453]

1 minute ago, Xaylin.1860 said:

I feel like you're stretching a bit... cause you need icon #8 to not be Engineer... 😅

 

• The three diamonds could represent Virtues. Easily.
• The e-spec might be about Dual Whielding, but that doesn't NOT make it Guardian.
• The pose fits Guardian just as well as it does Thief

 

Your speculation about Thief is all fair and reasonable. ANet could alter Dual skills on Thief. ANet could also change weapon skills of existing weapons when equiping the e-spec. Even though I'd say that this is less likely than just adding not yet accessible weapons. But just based on the armor - and it being human, sorry Revenants - it most likely is Guardian. If the armor is indeed heavy Warlord. If not, sure... Thief it is.

 

Talking about armor... does anyone know wether the Virtuoso chest piece is ingame? 🤔 Mayyyybe we get more than 1 armor piece this time around? Would also make sense for the (at least I assume) Necro-teaser?

The pose does not match for guardian.

 

Look at the guardian artworks so far. They all show the guardian in full profile, 90 degrees to the viewer. You think this is complete coincidence? That this occurred for guardian 3 times without any intention?

 

This artwork here doesn't show the character full profile, so the pose doesn't match.

I am not stretching for engineer's sake, I am just observing and making conclusions on what I see and patterns used by Anet in the past.

 

If this is guardian or thief does not directly change the engineer icon. It might be icon 8 or not, but this discussion here is unrelated to that.

[Rainbow Dragon.7268]

Looks like thief to me but we shall see XD i could be wrong and it could be guardian XD

[draxynnic.3719]

Something posted by @Roads.5130 in another thread that I thought is worth tossing into the ring:

 

An analysis comparing the silhouette to Heavy Warlord armour.

 

I think there's still some reasonable doubt in there since there's still an element of reading the proverbial tea leaves in these silhouettes, but I think this definitely swings the balance of probabilities over to guardian.

[Roads.5130]

2 minutes ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

Something posted by @Roads.5130 in another thread that I thought is worth tossing into the ring:

 

An analysis comparing the silhouette to Heavy Warlord armour.

 

I think there's still some reasonable doubt in there since there's still an element of reading the proverbial tea leaves in these silhouettes, but I think this definitely swings the balance of probabilities over to guardian.

Thank you, I'm not the original author though, I grabbed it from reddit and reposted it to imgur so I was able to link it in this forums.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/oy0ohd/threw_this_together_for_those_who_need_convincing/

[Xaylin.1860]

31 minutes ago, Kodama.6453 said:

The pose does not match for guardian.

It does match Guardian just as much as it does fit Thief.

 

It is still a sideview pose. Yes, the upper body is twisted. But this would align with a more mobile or athletic spec for Guardian. The pose would also still most perfectly fit to a position on the side of the group of heroes. If ANet insisted on keeping a similar composition as before. But we don't even know if this will happen.

 

Now, if you really feel it does not in any possible way fit Guardian, what kind of indications do you see for it being Thief? Thief had one pose facing towards the viewer. One facing to the side while kneeling. And one even facing away. The only argument that could be made here is versatility/flexibility. But that feels no more reasonable than saying Guardian is getting an agile e-spec. You know... like "borrowing" some aspects from Thief. Like e-specs do.

 

Maybe we just disagree on this one. 😉

Edited August 5, 2021 by Xaylin.1860

[Kodama.6453]

2 hours ago, Xaylin.1860 said:

It does match Guardian just as much as it does fit Thief.

 

It is still a sideview pose. Yes, the upper body is twisted. But this would align with a more mobile or athletic spec for Guardian. The pose would also still most perfectly fit to a position on the side of the group of heroes. If ANet insisted on keeping a similar composition as before. But we don't even know if this will happen.

 

Now, if you really feel it does not in any possible way fit Guardian, what kind of indications do you see for it being Thief? Thief had one pose facing towards the viewer. One facing to the side while kneeling. And one even facing away. The only argument that could be made here is versatility/flexibility. But that feels no more reasonable than saying Guardian is getting an agile e-spec. You know... like "borrowing" some aspects from Thief. Like e-specs do.

 

Maybe we just disagree on this one. 😉

I get the feeling you are not reading what I write or chose to actively ignore that.

 

Guardian's pose across literally every single class artwork (core, dragonhunter AND firebrand) is always a full on profile. Directly from the side. 90 degrees from the viewer. Feet not pointing in our direction at all. 

 

I find it very hard to believe that this is not intentional. Other classes also tend to have some body language theme for them, like ranger in all 3 artworks always got pictured kneeling/cowering close to the ground.

Warrior is always standing upright directly facing us.

 

The pose you see on this teaser is not a full on profile. The feet are facing our direction. The face is in half profile, NOT directly from the side, but glimpsing in our direction. And btw, thief tends to have this twisted upper body in their artwork with feet facing us. Core thief obviously has the twisted upper body. Daredevil has the twisted upper body with feet facing our direction. Redeye has a slighted twisted upper body with feet facing our direction. The pose does match the posing of thief in their artworks WAY more than guardian.

 

Another strong point is the colour coding, the red in this picture, which is the most prominent colour on this artwork, is not featured in guardian art. Meanwhile thief elite specs do have this kind of red in their artwork.

 

I know, you will bring up the blue outlining now. Funny enough, while guardian is mostly blue and doesn't have red in their artwork, thief tends to have this red colour in the art but also shades of blue/purple, etc. Just look at the daredevil art for reference.

 

Fortunately, we just have one week to go until we find out. But I would personally bet quite alot on this here being a thief.

Edited August 5, 2021 by Kodama.6453

[Xaylin.1860]

I did read it. Colorwise I did agree earlier that it appears more Thiefi even though there have been cases of alterations (e.g. DE being much more on the red side than Thief or DrD). Posewise, I just don't agree. I feel that those aspects could be interpreted either way. Plus the armor hinting at heavy.

 

I'll add cake to the cookies if it's not Thief 😁🤗

[draxynnic.3719]

14 minutes ago, Kodama.6453 said:

I get the feeling you are not reading what I write or chose to actively ignore that.

 

Guardian's pose across literally every single class artwork (core, dragonhunter AND firebrand) is always a full on profile. Directly from the side. 90 degrees from the viewer. Feet not pointing in our direction at all. 

 

I find it very hard to believe that this is not intentional. Other classes also tend to have some body language theme for them, like ranger in all 3 artworks always got pictured kneeling/cowering close to the ground.

Warrior is always standing upright directly facing us.

 

Just because there's a trend doesn't mean that it can't be broken.

 

Heck, there are differences across those artworks you mention. Firebrand is all shades of blue, for instance, while the other two are surrounded by blue, but the armour of the guardian and dragonhunter (and exposed skin of the latter) is in natural colour (there was a monochrome blue image for core guardian, but that was Blue Mace Lady, not the male human that is primarily used now). If the silhouette's armour has gold sections that have been darkened to make the silhouette, that would explain the brown-orange parts. While the blue parts... do look a lot like shining metal.

 

He's also still broadly facing the right, albeit in a more dynamic pose. Which makes sense if this is intended to be a more dynamic elite specialisation than DH and FB.

 

Ultimately, we have to ask here - is it more likely that they've changed the pose, or is it more likely that a silhouette that has several features that are identifiable as Warlord heavy (I know there are some inconsistencies, but there is too much that IS the same for me to think it's likely to be coincidence) will be for a non-soldier profession? I think the first is much more likely.

 

If it makes you feel better, I could still see this being icon #8 - essentially reflecting that unlike most guardians, this is one that can strike with both arms. Maybe that joke of having a trait called Left-Hand Strength will actually be on the money. (Yes, I know torch is pretty offensive, but it's still more of a spellcasting implement rather than a striking weapon).

[Verdict is Vengence.6912]

People on this thread arguing that the image is depicting a thief have good reasons to think so. But I'm convinced now that the image is indeed a guardian. If you look at his helmet, you can see that it lacks the cloth that the medium warlord helmet has on its sides. But it does have the same exact shape as the heavy warlord helmet.

 

3 hours ago, draxynnic.3719 said:

An analysis comparing the silhouette to Heavy Warlord armour.

Look along the sideburn and upper cheek. You can see its the heavy warlord helmet without the mask. The armor piece going down the jawline is exactly the same when looking at the in-game picture its being compared to. The medium warlord helmet has sides that go straight downwards in a line and is covered by cloth. Its sides does not curve like the helmet in the picture.

 

The only thing that leaves me a bit unsure is the character's height. Guardians are usually depicted as burly and statuesque. The character in the image is kind of short like how thieves are depicted.

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

I won't be adding anything new to the discussion, but here goes.

 

I think it's Thief, because:

 

(1) the color scheme (black / dark blue) matches the profession. In GW1, the Assassin's armor had blue, red, and gray. So the fact that it has a hint of blue doesn't necessarily mean it's Guardian;

 

(2) the dual swords match the icon with the two swords, where we also see 3 little diamonds that really look like the Thief's initiative;

 

(3) in terms of playstyle, I think an off-hand sword would go best with Thief, because it can give the Thief new dual attacks and combinations with the main-hand weapons we already have (dagger, sword, pistol).